This package implements NHexl mode, a minor mode for editing files
in hex dump format. The mode command is called `nhexl-mode'.
This minor mode implements similar functionality to `hexl-mode',
but using a different implementation technique, which makes it
usable as a "plain" minor mode. It works on any buffer, and does
not mess with the undo log or with the major mode.
It also comes with:
- `nhexl-nibble-edit-mode': a "nibble editor" minor mode.
where the cursor pretends to advance by nibbles (4-bit) and the
self-insertion keys (which only work for hex-digits) will only modify the
nibble under point.
- `nhexl-overwrite-only-mode': a minor mode to try and avoid moving text.
In this minor mode, not only self-inserting keys overwrite existing
text, but commands like `yank' and `kill-region' as well.
- it overrides C-u to use hexadecimal, so you can do C-u a 4 C-f
to advance by #xa4 characters.
Even though the hex addresses and hex data displayed by this mode aren't
actually part of the buffer's text (contrary to hexl-mode, for example,
they're only added to the display), you can search them with Isearch,
according to nhexl-isearch-hex-addresses and nhexl-isearch-hex-bytes.
Known bugs:
- When the buffer is displayed in several windows, the "cursor" in the hex
area only reflects one of the window-points. Fixing this would be rather
painful:
- for every cursor, we need an extra overlay with the `window'
property with its own `before-string'.
- because that overlay won't *replace* the normal overlay (the one
without the `window' property), we will need to *remove* that
overlay (lest we get 2 before-strings) and replace it with N overlays
with a `window' property (for all N other windows that don't have
their cursor on this line).
FWIW, the original `hexl-mode' has the same kind of problem.